Suburban Preparedness and Suburban Survival

We have all heard of the term bank run… it stands for the phenomenon that occurs when the general public beleives that their deposits are no longer safe in banking institutions and don’t want to be the last guy in the bank when he is informed that “sorry, we are out of cash”.  It can also be perpetuated by those with deposits in excess of the FDIC insurance amount who think a bank (or all banks) are about to fail.  If the general public believes this is happening then they don’t walk to the bank THEY RUN!  Hence, a Bank Run.  Well guess what… it is happening in Greece!  SEE HERE.

What?  You don’t think Greece’s current problems can’t show up here?  Maybe and maybe NOT!  Our current federal deficit is $1.327 TRILLION! (projected for 2012)  California is now running a projected $16 BILLION dollar deficit.  The US National Debt is, as of right now, $15,684,474,437 and COUNTING… that is over $15.5 TRILLION!  California has debt of $361 BILLION.  These numbers are staggering!  In order to reign in spending in a meaningfull way we have to go through austerity.  Austerity stands for severe cuts to government spending.  With all the BS in Washington and California – and by that I mean the partisan politics – no austerity is going to happen soon.  That means that this ship is not going to change course soon which will result in higher deficits and higher debt!  Eventually we will not be able to pay our creditors.  At this point we can point our nukes at our creditors and tell them we are defaulting and ask them what the plan to do it about it (in a Ney York accent of course) or we can attempt to restructure our debt – which is essentially a federal bankruptcy – which is were Greece is now.  Yes, I know we can always print our way out of it but then we are screwed too!

I am not a political activist or anything so yes, I have a prepper angle on this story.  KEEP CASH IN THE HOUSE!  Put it in a safe and not your sock drawer and bolt that safe to the ground.  Don’t buy gold, buy USEFULL intangibles – guns, farm equipment, materials.  If the S hit the fan and you and I were bartering would you rather have TWO glock 21′s (.45ACP) and 200 rounds OR a small gold disk with some perceived value?  The glocks?  Well, in my opinion that is the right answer!  I can throw pretty hard but not enough for that little disc to be a weapon!

We are headed on a horrible path.  If/once austerity hits the US (because we have no choice) the market will crash!  No more government contracts propping up corporations – no more government employees making $75k a year shopping at Best Buy – it all CRASHES!

PREP HARD – PREP NOW

-SP

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Got this is my email this morning and wanted to share it. Rayovac Sportsman Xtreme 300-Lumen LED Lantern on sale for $18 (40%) TODAY ONLY!! I just ordered TWO of these. 

First off Rayovac (even though is sounds like a cheesy company) is an American company (Team America – F-Yeah)  founded in 1869!  So, you can safely assume that they know a thing or two about batteries and illumination.  Oh, and one of their divisions made M1918 Browning Automatic rifles during WWII.  So, yeah – they are good-to-go. 

Rayovac claims this pumps out 300 lumens… that is serious light!  It also boasts 72 hour runtime (full power) or 150 hours (low light).  Lanterns will be essential to lighting your house during power down scenarios.  Having a solid lantern will be key to keeping your keep bright. 

The only thing I don’t like about this is that it takes D batteries.  Solution – Eneloop AA’s with the D-Cell adapter.  It is no secret I am on board the eneloop train and that means you should too!

HERE IS RAYOVAC’S DESCRIPTION FROM AMAZON:

With optimized beams, rubber grips, and tactical switches, Rayovac’s SE3DLN Sportsman Xtreme lantern is ideal for use inside and out, whether you’re heading for the hills or camping out in your home during a power outage. Nicely compact and ultra-portable at just 7 inches tall and under 3.5 inches wide, the Rayovac SE3DLN lantern also provides an incredibly bright 300-lumen light that makes it a useful resource for outdoor adventures as well as for emergency preparedness.This Sportsman green-and-black lantern features durable ABS construction and is engineered to be water resistant, making it ideal for use in rugged conditions. The bottom has a convenient hook that can fold out to light up your space–be it a tent, a basement, a garage, or a backyard patio–hands free. The Sportsman Xtreme lantern also features a foldout rubberized handle for easy carrying. An easy-find green LED blinks every five seconds when the lantern is off so you can locate it even on the darkest nights. It’s backed by a lifetime warranty.

The Power of LEDs

A perfect light source for modern lanterns, LEDs are virtually unbreakable, contain no filament or mercury, and never need to be replaced. The LED bulbs use battery power more efficiently than standard bulbs, greatly reducing the number of batteries needed over the life of the lantern. The SE3DLN’s 4-watt LED bulbs are powered by three D batteries (not included) for up to 72 hours of continuous use on high mode and up to 150 hours on energy-saver mode. The Sportsman Xtreme LED lantern also includes a strobe lighting mode.

Here is a decent video review I found on Youtube.com

 

PREP HARD AND PREP NOW!

-SP

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So I am having a nice Sunday with my family and my daughters and I head out to Jack-in-the-Box also commonly known as crap-in-the-sack.  We grab a couple burgers and head home.  I grab a bottle of ketchup from the fridge and make a small mental note that it looks a little dark.  Oh well, on we go.  I eat it, the kids eat it and we go about the rest of our day.  As I am BBQ’ing some dinner my wife points out that it expired in June of 2010!  That means it was likely bought in 2008 or 2009 and was therefore 3 to 4 years old and 2 years past expiration.

None of us got sick and it tasted fine.  LESSON: In a survival situation, do NOT let expiration dates scare you.  NOW HOLD ON… I am not advocating eating rotten food but USE GOOD JUDGEMENT.  My plan is to have only one family member try some expired or “questionable” food before letting everyone eat it.  That way, only one person gets sick and not the whole house.

BTW – It was Heinz 57 baby!!!  Only the good stuff for me.

JUST FYI.

PREP NOW & PREP HARD

-SP

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Fire.  An absolutely mission critical element of any preppers plan.  Do not count on being able to generate fire easily deep into a SHTF scenario without some preplanning.  I know you guys (and gals) are set but what about your idiot neighbor?  Sure he has got his BBQ lighter and some match books laying around what what then?  Disposable lighters are ok but have a limited life, many are cheap and cannot be trusted and matches are good but again, you can only have so many, can get wet and be useless and trying to like one with a light breeze is almost impossible.  Therefore, an excellent prep are zippo lighters, fuel and flints.  They are wind resistant (sort of wind proof), durable, refillable and you can get parts for them to keep it going almost forever.  These will be in high demand in the Post-SHTF wasteland! 

Best zippo lighter for a prepper is HERE.  A flat black, durable lighter that is the exact replica of the ones issue to our boys in WWII and currently only $13.  Good enough for them… good enough for.

FUEL:  You can get the 12 oz can which gives you better price per volume but makes it harder to trader as most people will likely not need such a large bottle.  You could just refill someone’s zippo for them on the spot for a small trade.  You can also get the smaller sized for actual trade (but it costs more per volume).

FLINTS AND WICKS:  Most people forget about these as they are rarely changed during normal use – but during the zombie apocolypse, you use is anything but normal!  So don’t forget to prep wicks and flints.  Here is a great zippo use/barter pack.  It is 3 packs of wicks and 3 packs of flints.  That is 3 wicks total (which last quite a while) and 18 flints (6 to a pack) all for the current price of $5.89 – GREAT DEAL!

These Three items will be invaluable to keeping YOUR new zippo going basically forever and they will make an excellent barter idea for trading. 

BONUS BARTER ITEM: Playing Cards.  For entertainment and morale purposes, nothing beats a deck of cards.  They are compact,durable, inexpensive to buy, they can be used by yourself or with others and/or I guess you could do some gambling with them to win or lose money or supplies (not advised).  These are another great barter item to keep on hand.  A great deck to get is the Bicycle Guardian Deck.  They are meant for magicians but that means they are designed to be stronger and more flexible – basically they will last longer.  They are little more than buying in a bulk pack but you may want the better quality.

If you have kids don’t forget the UNO CARDS… kids love them.  Go over to this UNO game web site and print out all the different versions of the UNO game to keep things interesting.

PREP HARD – PREP NOW

-SP

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Um yeah, I’ll take 10 please! I cannot think of a better prepper weapon for quietly dispatching a zombie, varmit or intruder than a mother-luvin TACTICAL TOMAHAWK!

There are two versions as best I can tell and both are available at amazon.com.  VERSION 1 is HERE (and comes with a compass) and VERSION 2 is HERE (I think this is the older one) and both are ONLY ABOUT $30!!

I just ordered the green handled one seen above (VERSION 1) and can’t wait to thwart the tree uprising surely being planned in my backyard right now.  Those trees must know the meaning of loyalty and my trusty TACTICAL TOMAHAWK will gladly teach them!

In all seriousness – do NOT underestimate the importance of a bladed weapon for preparedness or survival.  Yes they popular right now because of the Zombie movement (i.e. The Walking Dead) but they also serve a very practical purpose.  Pick up a couple today!

PREP NOW – PREP HARD!

-SP

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This is just too important not to post ASAP!  MIT?  Yeah, I heard those guys were smart so I’ll pay attention.  This article makes sense – PLEASE READ IT.  The good news is that we have some time.  Get your Gold – Guns – Food and Medical Supplies… this ride is going to be bumpy!

Next Great Depression? MIT researchers predict ‘global economic collapse’ by 2030.

This is sad… this will be right when my kids hit their mid-20s which is such a great time in your life!

PREP HARD AND PREP NOW

-SP

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Readers, I have a lot of Surefire G2 LED flashlights.  In my opinion they are one of the best flash lights a prepper can have.  They are compact, durable and kick out sufficient white light for the price (they used to be $60 now they are $90, But there’s no inflation right?).   I roll with the old style but the new Surefire G2s are extremely sick too (brighter, two modes)… it’s just that they are $90…  I guess I’ll be picking a couple up soon (because I am weak and can’t help myself)

So naturally I stock the batteries that run these tactical grade flashlights run on… the CR123.  Most of you preppers know about them.  I usually only roll with Surefire batteries in the 24-pack.  I keep two boxes (48 total) as a minimum since you can run through them pretty quick.

I am not sure where I got these other batteries, but when I did I remembered all those studies you and I have read about generic batteries lasting as long as name brands and so on… so I thought, these are probably good-to-go.  Well THEY WEREN’T and when I went to load them into my G2, they lit the light for about 5 measly seconds and then DIED!  Can you believe the trouble I would be if I had relied on these post-shtf!!!! 

 BATTERY STATION BRAND CR123′s You Are F-ing OUT!  So if you see these culprits on your shelf, use them now or toss them!

Speaking of batteries – if you are not on the Eneloop train then you need to be ASAP.  I Picked up this Eneloop starter pack (Actually I bought 3 over time so I could charge 12 AA batteries at once) and love it.  Once dead, you charge them up (up to 1500x) and you are good-to-go for a fraction of new batteries. [ Check out the high cap eneloop; 2500mAh as compared to 1500mAh.  I use these in my Fenix TK41 - which is bad-ass btw! for longer run times!] Couple some Eneloop charges with a power strip and an GoalZero Adventure 350 Kit (SEE REVIEW BELOW) and your prep gear is going to run for a long time.  Make sure you are stocked for batteries!  A prepper can never have too many. 

PREP ELECTRICAL – PREP HARD!

-SP

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